Ten Human Hearts
by zensho
Summary: Short love story about Sesshoumaru and Rin. SessRin only. COMPLETE


**Ten Human Hearts**

_This story is set a very long time ago in feudal Japan. At that time, Japan was racked with internal wars between powerful feudal lords who each desired ever more land. Smelling the intense blood and grief in the battlefields, many ancient youkai (demons) were lured out of their hiding places. To the horror of humans, the youkai began fighting amongst themselves for power, land, and lordship - killing any humans who stood in their way, and often subduing entire human towns in their quest for power._

_Eventually, out of the terrible youkai wars which themselves are a great tale, four youkai houses emerged most powerful. Each of the four was matched evenly in skill, and were thus unable to defeat the other. They were House of Inu (Dog), House of Hebi (Snake), House of Neko (Cat) and House of Ryu (Dragon). They decided to separate and each took lordship of a separate part of Japan. House of Inu took lordship over the West, House of Hebi took the East, House of Neko travelled far North and settled there, and House of Ryu established themselves in the South._

_An uneasy truce existed among the four houses, and in true youkai fashion, the truce was often broken in bad faith. In self-preservation, many minor youkai quickly pledged loyalty to one of the Houses. Any rogue youkai who troubled their lands were swiftly killed by the youkais of the four houses, and their power grew great. This terrified the humans who, if unfortunate enough to anger the youkai, were swiftly killed._

_There exist many tales of the exploits of the great Inu, Hebi, Neko and Ryu houses, but the legend of the Ten Human Hearts is concerned only with the marriage of the eldest son of the Inutaisho the First Lord Inu-Youkai of the Western Lands._

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After the death of the First Lord Inu-Youkai of the Western Lands, his eldest son ruled the Western Lands as the Second Lord. In the one hundredth year of his reign as Second Lord, he was badly wounded by his half-brother and took rest in the shade of a dark forest.   
  
It was on the edge of this forest that the Second Lord Inu-Youkai of the House of Inu found the lifeless body of the strange human girl-child who had offered him food and drink when he was injured. It was not in the nature of a youkai to care about human lives, yet he had unhesitatingly drawn his life-giving katana from his side and resurrected her pitiful, bloodied form.

As far as he was concerned at that time, this resurrection was a mere fancy, a passing kindness.

What he did not count on was that once she regained life, the little girl would follow him on his travels for nearly three years. During that time she met many hostile youkai and dangerous situations, from which he always never failed to rescue her. Apart from the times she was in danger and needed him to save her, he did not give her much thought, simply assuming that she would leave him and settle in a human village once she tired of his endless journeying.

But after three years, it was obvious to him that the girl-child had no intention of ever leaving his side.

The thought that she was blindly faithful to him troubled yet pleased him. He was surprised that he felt such conflict of emotion, for he was not one to experience doubt. Nonetheless, as it was clear she never intended to leave him, and that he had somehow become responsible for her, there was only one safe place to bring her to.

When the girl-child first followed him into his youkai palace, she was a tiny, bedraggled, thing: but all smiles, and laughter, and song. Many youkai servants left their master at that time, disgusted and surprised that he would lower himself to care for a human. For those that remained in his service out of loyalty to him, or fear, or both, her happy nature unsettled them and many did not know how to react when she laughed at them, or climbed up their robes, or asked them to play an variety of silly human games with her.

But they soon adjusted to her cheerful ways. They learnt that humans were emotional creatures that needed to be handled with care, for the little one would go from tears to laughter in a second depending on what one said to her. They learnt that she loved beautiful things: fresh air, flowers and bright colours. They began adding such things to their master's castle. Quickly, they learnt that making her happy, made them happy.

Their master said nothing as he watched the palace of the Western Lands transform rapidly from a cave of dark austerity to a pavilion of gorgeous brilliance. Indeed, it seemed that he found more pleasure in the colourful drapes, bright flowers and beautiful paintings than he had in the dark intimidation of his previous furnishings. The youkai servants took care that everything should be so as to please the girl-child, and in return, she rewarded them with tender words and sweet smiles. Eventually, the youkai servants forgot that they were caring for a human child, and the only thought on their minds was that she be cared for in the most special way possible. She was treated as the youkai lord's unofficial daughter, the beloved Hime of the Western Lands.  
  
She often begged to go travelling with him as they used to do in the days before he brought her to his palace. He gently refused her, speaking to her of the dangers that lurked beyond the castle walls. However, it pleased him that she still desired to stay constantly by his side, and that she would follow him anywhere. He thought long on the meaning of her loyalty, and his pleasure at it. When she grew up, he promised her, she could travel with him again, he needed to make sure she was safe till then.  
  
So she waited impatiently for that far-off day, not knowing what he meant by growing up, but not disobeying him either.

Learning her desire to have him near her, he never stayed away from his palace for long ever again. If he left, the servants knew to prepare for his arrival before the cycle of the moon ran out. The child could hardly eat or sleep when he was away, worrying constantly about what dangers the Lord of the Western Lands might face from other powerful youkai. But as she prayed for, he always returned safely to her, and on the first night of his return, the two would wander in the gardens together and no one knew what they spoke of.

Every spring, their master personally picked out fabric for her new kimono and had it tailored to fit her by the best seamstresses in his lands. His taste was extravagant and the little one grew up in kimonos of finest silk, gold thread, rich dyes and intricate patterns. He lavished her with expensive presents on her birthday, which the demon servants privately thought a waste, because the girl-child never played with the mechanical singing birds or porcelain dolls, preferring to run around in the fields picking flowers for her master.

Time passed, and the girl-child grew tall and slender like the willow trees that graced their youkai master's garden. The youkai servants were proud that their human charge was more gracious, more beautiful, and more gentle, than many other youkai Himes in the land. It did not matter that she could not read or write because she had no interest in such, and their master seemed not to want to trouble her with those things. Her knowledge was everything she had learned about the world from talking with her master. Her world was everything he had cared to share with her, and so, protect her.

After the human girl-child had been in his palace seven years, the Second Lord Inu-youkai had a dream that he would have ten offspring with human hearts. Hoping to avoid what he thought was a weakening of his bloodline, he quickly mated a Hebi-youkai Hime from the East to ensure the preservation of youkai blood within his family. On the wedding night, his Hebi-youkai bride was nowhere to be found.

After a while, the thick smell of human blood came to him and he hurried to the bedroom of his girl-child where it was coming from. The Hebi-youkai's lips were stained with the blood of the girl-child and her snake fang-marks clear on the neck of the dead girl.

The Hebi-youkai bride smiled and told him joyfully that his reputation was safe now that she had got rid of the human girl-child who all the other youkai lords saw as his weakness. Was her husband not glad that the human who tarnished his reputation now lay dead?

Hardly had she finished speaking than the Inu-youkai drew his katana and sliced off the head of his new bride. It took a moment for him to realise what he had done. Then he drew his life-giving sword from its halberd, and for the second time, restored the human girl-child to life.

The human girl-child was badly poisoned by the Hebi-venom of her murderess and for a month lay in an uneasy coma. During this time, the Second Lord Inu-youkai was besieged by battles by the vengeful Hebi-youkai House who sought retribution for the death of their Hime. Much youkai blood was spilt in this month: all of it was Hebi-youkai blood.

It was Spring when his girl-child opened her eyes for the first time and said his name. Warmth filled his youkai heart and he was glad.

As soon as he was sure she was cured, the Second Lord-Inuyoukai picked out snow-white and blood-red silk for his girl-child's new kimono, ordered that they be embroidered with gold and silver thread, and made into the most beautiful shiro-maku and uchikake that ever existed in Japan. The servants understood the significance of the garments they had been commanded to procure, and realized then that their charge was no longer a girl-child, but had grown into womanhood. With the constant, brief, seasons and her endless happy ways, they had hardly noticed the change in her.

Shortly after, their master went off in his usual manner, saying that he had gone to seek something precious from the humans who dwelt in his lands.

Before the moon-cycle was complete, the glowing white figure of their master returned and as he walked in the gardens, and his girl-child ran out to meet him. He handed her two golden kanzashi which he had journeyed to her human homeland to find. Remembering their purpose from her early days among humans, she blushed as she realised his meaning.

The next day, the sun rose on the Second Lord Inu-youkai of the Western Lands alone under the sakura trees in his ceremonial yoroi. His white hair swayed gently in the breeze and his amber eyes watched eagerly for the arrival of the woman who the fates had decreed he would mate. The Hime of the Western Lands was in her room as her servants combed her hair into bunkin-takashimada and adorned it with the gold kanzashi that their master had travelled far to find. The completed shiro-maku and uchikake were brought out from the cupboard and truly - they were the most beautiful in all of Japan. They fastened the hakoseko and ceremonial kaiken to her waist and when they looked at her finally, her gentle human beauty lit up the room.

His whole court was present when the Second Lord of the Western Lands bound himself forever to his mate in the first official recorded marriage between Youkai Lord and human. In the splendour of his garden under the sakura trees, he made the marriage-wounds swiftly, and as his youkai blood mingled with her human blood, they thus bound themselves together irrevocably in life and in death.

After that day, the Hime became the Kisaki of the palace. Wherever the Lady of the Western Lands went, servants bowed low and honoured her. Their master had always been a cold and emotionless youkai, but to his mate he was tender and loving beyond expectation.

For many years, the palace grew in prosperity and happiness. The Kisaki seemed to charm every venture of the Lord of the Western Lands so that his lands increased ten fold over the years, even as the houses of Hebi, Neko and Ryu decayed. As he had promised, she was often allowed to travel with him, following him wherever he had business and never leaving his side.

Over time, she bore him ten children, nine strong sons and a daughter, each with white hair, amber eyes, and human hearts. The Western Lands prospered under the rulership of their strong family.

Though she was human, she aged slowly, for the youkai blood in her kept her young. It was two hundred summers before her hair turned fully white to match his, and the bloom began fading from her cheeks. She stopped traveling with him then and took to her bed. Her children and husband gathered about her bedside, and they grieved to see her suffer. But she smiled, and asked for fresh flowers to be kept near her during her last days.

Her husband stayed by her bed for three months, never leaving her side, never sleeping or resting, till one day, she grasped his hand and said, "For all you have done for me, I thank you shitawashii danna-sama. Twice you have given me new life, but even your life-giving katana cannot save me from death again because it is my time."

He nodded and stroked her brow.  
  
She smiled a final time as she said, "My only regret is that I can no longer follow wherever you go."

Just as he had expected, when her heart stopped beating, he felt his demon heart beat slower with each breath. He gathered his ten children about him that he might explain to them the true meaning of the youkai-human bond he had forged with their mother two hundred years ago. He looked at his ten children and he felt keenly in his failing heart, the strong beat of their ten human hearts inside their bodies. A half-remembered dream from centuries ago returned to him, and he knew that the prophecy was not one of doom, but of glory.

"I am going to join your okaasan. The bond we made two hundred years ago is calling me, and I must go to her now. The ten of you will honour my house, and rule jointly in my stead. My eldest son will be the Third Lord Inu-Youkai of the Western Lands."

At his words, his nine sons held back tears but his daughter wept and called for her okaasan and chichiue. She was shushed by her eldest brother, who held her tightly.

Then, the Second Lord Inu-Youkai of the Western lands took his mate in his arms and breathed his last, for the marriage bond between youkai and human had decreed that this was to be his fate, though he had never told his mate it would be so.

She was waiting for him in the field of flowers.

Her youth was restored to the time when they had made their marriage bond, and her wedding shiro-maku glowed white. He looked into the distance and saw a comforting bright light, and felt a lightness and happiness that he had never felt before.

By instinct, he knew that the light called them and they must go to it.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" cried his wife, as she ran into his arms. "Where were you? I was waiting for you to come back!"

They embraced each other and he turned to look at the light.

"Let's go, Rin" he said.

And as she always had…she followed.

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_This tale records the first official marriage between an Inu-youkai Lord and a human woman, and is still told by the inu-hanyou (half-blooded) descendents to their children today._

_As the Second Lord Inu-youkai had predicted, the addition of human blood to the pure inu-youkai bloodline ensured that when the glory days of youkai were over, and the Hebi, Neko and Ryu houses hunted down, cursed or sealed away, the Inu descendents continued to live amongst humans._

_The royal crest of their house became ten human hearts joined in a circle, and they were double-blessed with the dharma of humans, and the great skills of youkai.  
_

_Owari.  
_


End file.
